Bo La Lot - Grilled Beef in Piper Lolot Leaves in Saigon

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One of my favorite Vietnamese foods is something called bo la lot (or more formally thịt bò nướng lá lốt). The basic recipe includes minced beef mixed with just a few small spices, sometimes some citrus, then wrapped into wild betel leaves (piper lolot) leaves (which are slightly different from normal betel leaves, piper betle), then grilled over hot charcoal. Bo la lot is then served with Vietnamese rice paper, a selection of herbs and raw vegetables, sauce, and chilies. Everything is wrapped together and consumed. It’s truly one of my favorite things to eat in Vietnam.
On my trip to Saigon, I was searching online and happened to come across Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt on Foursquare. Since the restaurant was just down the road from where I was staying, I could not miss eating there. Another great thing about this bo la lot restaurant is that they are open for lunch, while many of the street food restaurants that serve bo la lot are only open in th evening for dinner. As we entered the restaurant, I could actually smell the aroma of the grilled leaves, and the owner kindly greeted us as we entered. You’ll recognize Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt by its huge green sign and the inside is also painted green - is this a tribute to the wild betel piper lolot leaves!? I loved it.
The menu was simple and straightforward, even though I only know the names of a few Vietnamese dishes. My wife and I ordered one plate of bo la lot, a plate of bo mo chai, and finally cha gio, deep fried Vietnamese spring rolls. When we ordered the bo la lot and the mo chai, they were tossed on the grill and cooked for a few more minutes before being delivered to our table in aromatic glory. I could smell the beef and the fragrant herbs, and I couldn’t wait to dig in. The bo la lot was served on a plate, topped with a few scoops of crushed peanuts, and a drizzle of fragrant scallion oil and green onions.
One of the easiest ways to eat Vietnamese bo la lot is to first take a piece of rice paper, then add on a few green leafy vegetables like lettuce, then pile on the bun (rice vermicelli noodles), more herbs like Vietnamese coriander and sweet basil, and then add in a bo la lot, and then finally dress with sauce and chilies. The combination of the ingredients, and the salty and sweet beef sausage with the herbaceous green tasting wild betel leaves, was outstanding. The mo chai, which are like sausage shaped hamburgers, were also very good. They tasted very similar to the bo la lot meat inside, but without the outer leaf wrapper. So overall, I preferred the bo la lot, but both were delicious.
Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt restaurant is more expensive than eating bo la lot on the street in Saigon, but the bo la lot was pretty good size (bigger than versions I ate on the street), and I think the meat was better quality. For delicious bo la lot in Saigon, Vietnam, check out Cô Liên Bò Lá Lốt.
Address: 321 Võ Văn Tần, District 3, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam (the restaurant is just a few steps from the southeastern corner of Vo Van Tan and Nguyen Thuong Hien)
Open hours: 10 am – 9:30 pm daily
Price: Our full meal cost 132,000 VND ($6.09), and the owner gave us some free samples of different dishes as well!
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Music in this video courtesy of Audio Network
This video was made by Mark Wiens and Ying Wiens
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